Tuesday, November 2, 2010

An article in today's Toronto Star features a survey based on what twenty-somethings want in their jobs. This is a very insightful article because the results of the survey are in contrast to the stereotype of the Echo Boom generation.

It says instead of the casual jeans and endless pizza of the dot-com boom, this generation wants a formal office space (all the way through to cubicles for entry level employees) and a 'no jeans' policy at work.

The study also shows this generations split between a preference for merit based salaries and fixed salaries with regular pay scales.

Here in full is the article from the Toronto Star by Lesley Ciarula Taylor.

Generation Y, stereotyped as demanding, narcissistic and self-entitled, may be more Mad Men’s Don Draper than their bosses realize, a new Canadian survey finds.

The Millennial generation, people roughly 22 to 29, want traditional walls, desks, salaries, pensions and clothes for work, according to Career Edge Organization.

Then again, they also want tuition credits, bonuses, dental care, a prescription drug plan and lots of feedback, the survey found.

“They’re prepared to work hard, but they want to be recognized for that work and know where it will take them,” said Anne Lamont, president of Career Edge, a non-profit national organization involved in internships.

“Overwhelmingly, they want continuous feedback from their manager.”

The dot-com dream of jeans, sneakers, a cellphone, a sofa and endless pizza is not for these Echo Boom kids, raised by boomer parents, the survey found.

A full 82 per cent want a workplace with “a balance of independent and team work;” 34 per cent prefer a “formal office structure with cubicles for entry-level employees” rather than open-concept or hyper-casual offices.

And they’ll dress the part. The survey found that 56 per cent believed “business casual, no jeans” was proper office attire. Only 13 per cent thought jeans were okay.

In exchange, more than half said they wanted the pensions, bonuses and paid vacations their parents and grandparents had.

Thirty-six per cent said they wanted a regular salary based on regular pay scales, while 34 per cent favoured “merit-based pay.”

More than 80 per cent wanted paid health benefits; 72 per cent wanted tuition subsidies for job-related education courses. Another 64 per cent believed an “open-door senior leadership policy” made for a great workplace.

And where does their hyper-wired tech savvy come in? It’s not all that different from Mad Men, although it is online.

Job postings and corporate websites were how 80 per cent of Gen Y job hunters get their information, the survey found. Second most common source, for 61.6 per cent, was family and friends.

Don’t underestimate this generation,” said Lamont. “It’s a two-way street for employers. They can no longer just say ‘marketing analyst’ on a job posting. Gen-Yers want to understand the corporate culture.”

Unlike Don Draper, though, advertising was only 16th on the top-20 list of the type of jobs Millennials are looking for: Banking was first, followed by the public sector and IT. Engineering ranked Number 20.

Although banking ranked at the top, government jobs appealed, the survey found, because of their compensation, stability, opportunity to make a difference and advance, and work/life balance.